Organization and Contact
Program Overview
The Homework Champions Tutoring program (HCT) is a virtual education assistance program directed by the Refugee Outreach Collective's (ROC) Kalamazoo College collegiate chapter in collaboration with Samaritas, a social services nonprofit. HCT has provided 100% virtual services for refugee students in the Kalamazoo area in response to the pandemic. Using tailored tutoring approaches, HCT aims to build our students' skills, confidence, and motivation to learn independently. Fostering reciprocal community relationships between tutors and students is integral to our mission. Our tutors are encouraged to reflect on the social, educational, and political systems that resettled refugee students and their families navigate and how that can impact our students' learning.
Our program matches West Michigan college students with one resettled refugee student in the Kalamazoo, MI area for 1:1 homework and general academic assistance. Homework-help is our basis, but we also utilize session times for fun interactive games to encourage social interaction in a time of such isolation.
Students and Offerings
Delivery Model and Staffing
We usually work with many children within the same family, so our tutors often get to know all the siblings through their online interactions. We also encourage tutors working in the same family to collaborate and reflect on their experience. We have volunteer translators available and a multilingual leadership team. We call families to check in regarding their satisfaction with the program.